The Far East's Opportunities and Perils

Is Japan's cheap-money policy planting the seeds for an Asian financial crisis? And what will China's Alibaba be worth when it goes public?

Such an ominous headline on an investment story -- appearing when the Dow is sitting pretty at 14,700 and the VIX (the market's fear gauge) is at a relaxing 13.8 -- seems at first to be a bit over the top.